VG Rumble

(Sorry about the lack of posts for a while. Let's all try to get this thing up and running so we can finish it!)

A bright flash of light burst from the Dark Knight just as Karana's arrow was about to hit its target. The arrow crumbled into cloud of ash before it even fell to the ground. Ethric's body was surrounded by a dome of red energy.

"Your arrows won't work on me, little girl." Ethric Vanhiel pointed at Karana and said, "My turn." A beam of condensed energy shot forth from the tip of the finger. It pierced straight through Karana's shoulder as quickly as a bolt of lightning. She let out a scream as she clutched her shoulder and went to her knees.

Ilum saw what the Dark Knight had done to her. "Karana!" Rage began to build up inside of him as he drew his sword and rushed Ethric. "Draw your sword, you bastard!" Ilum brought his sword down over the Dark Knight's head.

Ethric's hand had suddenly grabbed Ilum's blade. It had moved so fast that not even a blur had appeared. He smiled wickedly. "I don't need to draw my sword to kill pups like you." He sent a surge of black and red energy through the sword. Ilum cried out in pain as he tried to pull away. After a few moments he simply dropped to the ground.

Ethric Vanhiel looked at Luke, Raven and Izuki and asked, "Now, who's next?"

**Hmmm...lemme see...what can I write?? lol **

Karana cringed, biting back whimpers even as tears came to eyes. Damn, it hurt! She had never had something so bad happen before, and it hurt! She couldn't move her arm; at all. Blood flowed in rivulets from the wound, coursing down her back, chest, and arm.

And Ilum was unconscious. He needed help.

Karana tried to stand, but cried out when she moved wrong. She growled and looked at Warren. "Warren! Get him out of there! Please..."

She watched, trying to fight through the pain, as Luke, Raven, and Izuki seemed to move at the same time, rushing Ethric Vanhiel. How she longed to be beside them, to be of use...

If you get past the pain, you can be beside them! Now, think Karana! Think! Get through the pain! Come ON! she struggled.

***Damn!!! I was the last person to post, and that was two freaking WEEKS ago!!!**** WAKE UP!!!!!***

(My bad, I kept putting it off until later. I don't know why, but posting here has become such a pain. Let's hurry this up. By the way, I think kitty15 is having trouble with her Internet connection, which is why she hasn't been posting for a few weeks.)

Warren was sluggishly getting back to his feet. He nodded at Karana and went to Ilum's side. The Dark Knight didn't even acknowledge him as he lifted the man up into his arms. Raven was already on her way over to Karana to heal her wounds. Izuki stayed behind Luke.

Luke glanced over his shoulder at the girl. "Go help Raven."

"But-"

"Just go, I'll keep him busy." Izuki hesitantly nodded her head before running to Raven's side.

Ethric kept his eyes on Luke. He seemed to have taken an interest in the man. He sounded amused when he said, "How ironic, a man who killed one of his allies is now the leader of this rag-tag group."

Luke narrowed his gaze. "You know nothing about me, Ethric."

"On the contrary, I know much about you. Memories of your past eat away at your mind. You can't even sleep anymore because of the nightmares of this event."

"Your words can't hurt me, Dark Knight," Luke told him, "I've made peace with that part of my past."

"Have you now?" The Dark Knight raised his arm and pointed at Luke.


Images from years ago suddenly soared through Luke's mind. He was standing in the middle of the City of Arcadia. There was chaos everywhere he looked. Monsters flooded through the city's gates and over the walls. All the King's soldiers were fighting them, trying to protect the city and its people.

Luke saw his commanding officer fighting a lizard-like monster. Another monster was coming up behind him. In a desperate act to protect his superior, Luke knocked an arrow and aimed at the approaching monster. But just as he released the string, the first monster tackled his commanding officer, putting his head in the path of the arrow.


Luke's sword clattered against the smooth rock floor. He clutched his head and screamed. The images kept replaying over and over, forcing him to re-live the tragic event that haunted his dreams every night.

The Dark Knight laughed.

**We need to hurry up and finish this thing. It's getting to be a pain in my ass. lol **

Raven looked up from her work; Karana felt her freeze in terror as she turned her gaze on the man she loved. Luke was in agony...well, at least torture.

When Raven faltered, Karana shrugged away, making herself stand with half-healed wounds. "Go. I'll be fine."

"But..."

"He needs you. I'll survive. Go!"

It took Karana a moment, but she finally steadied herself and got control again. She focused her magic, reaching deep into her soul, into her very being. She had to fight, to give it all she had. She had to, for Ilum and Luke.

She felt everything around her seemingly blaze and catch fire. It was so hot, so powerful. It was dangerous...

"Get out of the way!"

Even as she said it, a semi-solid mass of white-hot fire exploded from her hands and shot forth, enveloping the Dark Knight and the area around him.

Sorry for the absence guys. Dynamo was right, I've had some major trouble with my internet but come now, let's do this justice and finish it tidily.

Raven

"Luke," Raven murmured as she reached his side, placing her body between her beloved and the Dark Knight. "It's okay, Luke, it was all in the past. I know you've been through a lot but please, try to hang on." There was no response from Luke whose blood curdling screams tore through the room. Raven gathered his sword and tried again: "Luke, please. We need you." And all the while Ethric laughed, even as Karana's fire bubbled around him.

"How irritating. Just when you think an enemy is no longer an issue, they get up and start fighting again," Ethric said as he clenched his fist and his brows creased in concentration. At first nothing seemed to happen. Then the white beam of fire intensified and for a moment, Raven thought Karana had gained the upper hand. But just as abruptly, the tower of fire turned and hurtled back towards its creator.

Karana dodged aside in time to avoid being completely incinerated but the fire singed her flesh before lashing against the cavern wall where it dispersed into smoke and steam.

"Who wants to take the next shot? How about you, little girl?" Ethric grinned, turning his attention to Izuki.

Despite her obvious fear, Izuki stood her ground as the Dark Knight looked at her.

Raven was still trying to snap Luke out of his current state, but despite her best efforts he continued to scream. Then she tried something else. She wrapped her arms around Luke's body and said, "Luke, you don't have to be alone anymore. I'm here for you, and I always will be." She grabbed him by the head and pulled him down for a kiss. Just as she had down countless nights before, she ran her magic through his body to chase away the bad memories.

Luke began to calm down, his screams stopped as their lips touched. His body suddenly went slack, and when she pulled away his eyes slowly opened. "...Raven?"

"Yes, I'm here Luke."

He wrapped his arms around her body and said, "I heard your voice, then the memories just stopped. You saved me."

"You don't have to suffer alone anymore, Luke. I'll always be with you."

"Guys! A little help here?" They all turned to see the Dark Knight approaching Izuki.

"Izuki's in trouble!" Raven shouted.

"But what can we do? His body is immune to all our attacks." Luke turned his attention to the Soul Forge. "He must be getting his power from the Soul Forge." Luke suddenly had an idea. It was a long shot, but it was the only shot they had. He turned to Raven and said, "Raven, throw the Aqualith into the Soul Forge!"

She looked at him with confusion. "What?"

"The Dark Knight manipulated the Soul Forge to sap life from the world and fuel his own powers. If we put all three sacred stone into the Soul Forge it may reverse the process!"

(Come on, guys! We need to finish this up! If we don't we can't do the sequel!)

***I PROMISE I will post tomorrow. Hang on; I'll PM you about my day...ugh...***

**Whoops. Guess I forgot... GUESS WHAT!! I gave myself a black eye... But I still took third at the dog show! And yeah, there will be mistakes here. I can't remember the names of the stones!**

Karana scampered away, biting back a string of curses. She hoped Luke was right; she hoped restoring the Soul Forge would reduce Ethric's powers, thus giving them the chance to beat him!

She ran across the cavern, avoiding his attacks, and removed the fire stone from her bag. She threw it to Luke, who thankfully caught it.

She continued to run until she reached Ilum. He was slowly coming to; he was beginning to stir. She knelt beside him, putting her mouth near his ear and her hand on his shoulder. "Come on, babe, wake up. We need you. I need you. Come on."

God, let their plan work!

Luke caught the Pyrolith. He looked across the cavern to Warren and yelled, "Warren! Throw the Aerolith into the Soul Forge!"

Warren looked at him for a moment, then nodded. He took out the Aerolith and threw it into the Soul Forge, just as Luke had instructed. Luke and Raven threw theirs at the exact same time. They began to float in mid air when they came in contact with the raging currents coming out the Soul Forge. They seemed to organize themselves into a certain formation, the Aqualith on the top, Pyrolith on at the left and the Aerolith on the right. They gave off a radiant light just before the entire cavern began to shake.

The Dark Knight began to laugh. "This is all going according to plan! I suppose thanks are in order, I would not have been able to obtain the next level of power without your help." He faced the Soul Forge and raised his arms. "Soul Forge! Give me all of your power!"

A bolt of lightning sparked from the Soul Forge's currents and struck the Dark Knight in the chest. His armour and body began to merge and shift into one. Then he began to transform into something else. Everyone watched in horror as Ethric Vanhiel turned into a monster. He became a colossal stone head that levitated just above the ground. One either side of him were two giant stone hands, One was holding a giant lance, the other glowed with magic.

The Dark Knight's voice came out as a distorted echo from inside the head. "I have more power than you can ever imagine! Once I kill you all, I will purge this world and bring about a new order. You cannot stop me!"

The Aqualith, Pyrolith and Aerolith began to glow again. This time a bolt of lightning shot out from them and struck struck Luke, Raven, Warren, Karana, Izuki and Ilum in their chests, one-by-one. They were suddenly overcome with a sensation of power.


--Everybody can activate their Overdrives!! Use them now, before it's too late!!!--

Our overdrives? Do you mean our skills or a huge power boost or what...?

(It's the power boost that our characters get from time-to-time that makes them transform into super powerful states. Luke first used his in the mines when our characters were fighting two giant Husks at once, remember? Instead of it being just one of us, this time it's all of our characters that transform. And instead of it going away after one attack, it's going to stay active until the end of the fight. This is the final showdown, so I wanted it to be flashy.)

Warren

Sensations of power rippled through him and he felt something wrapping itself around his torso, wet and slimy, almost like the feel of the outside of a wet suit but as it bound tighter and tighter to his flesh, it started to mould with him and feel a part of him. Warren stared in amazement to find that he was wearing some strange, flexible black armour. He moved and it almost threw him off balance, so quick and effortless was the step and he flexed his hands, feeling every pore on his skin.

"Looks like you're out-numbered!" Warren shouted, throwing himself forward, his body propelled by a rush of wind and time, the two powers entwined like coloured ribbons, leaving only cold in his wake. The Dark Knight was caught off guard by these un-foreseen circumstances and his eyes tried to watch the figure lurching towards him.

Warren drew the two swords, both whirring like the blades of a helicopter and he held them in hands confident with skill as he brought them down, shooting lightning into his father's breast. The black armour seemed to writhe and grow, Warren's body expanding with it as the transformation completed and he became a writhe, apparently lacking in substance, moving faster than any of them could track. A black cloud seemed to build around him, cloaking the twist and turn of his wrists and only the tips of his blades reached out everynow and then to hurl lightning in his father's direction.

But the Black Knight was not to be defeated so easily.

(Just so you know, the Dark Knight had transformed, too. He's now a colossal head floating above the ground with two hands floating with him. One hand has a giant lance and the other is brimming with magical energy.)